Circuit-interrupter.



J. N. MAHONEY. CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER. APPLICATION FILED I'EB. 16,1912.

Patented Mar. 23, 1915.

0 n 1 i Z 3 r nww l lww lw lwy/m 1 IIIHI 5 INVEN OR a WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH N. MAHONEY, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'lO WESTING-HOUSE ELECTRIG AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL-VANIA.

GIRCUIT-INTERRUPTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 16, 1912. Serial No. 678,124.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosErH N. MAHONEY,

. a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilkinsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Circuit-Interrupters, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to circuit interrupters, and it has specialreference to such devices as are provided with auxiliary arcingterminals.

One object of my invention is to simplify and improve the constructionand operation of devices of the above-indicated class, and to provide acircuit interrupter which shall be compact, durable and inexpensive inconstruction, and reliable and effective in V operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide a circuit-interruptingdevice of this general class having a main movable contact member and anauxiliary movable arcing terminal which are independently mounted uponseparate supporting arms and which are so interconnected by means of alost-motion mechanism as to positively insure the separation of thecotiperating stationary and movable main' contact members and arcingterminals in a predetermined order and a definite time intervalAccording to my invention, the cooperating arcing terminals arerestrained or latched in engagement until the main movable contactmember has been withdrawn from its coiiperating stationary members apredetermined distance, when the restrained movable arcing terminal isreleased and a separation of the cooperating arcing terminals iseffected, whereby the final arc is confined to, and ruptured by, theterminals intended for that purpose.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, in side elevation, ofa device constructed in accordance with my invention, a portion thereofbeing broken away for the sake of clearnesa tially in front elevationand partially in section, of a portion of the operating mechanism shownin Fig. 1, the section being taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3and 4 are outline views of a portion of the operating mechanism, showingthe relative position of the component parts thereof in mg material thatFig. 2 isa view, par-' different stages in the opening operation of thedevice.

Referring to the drawings, the. device shown comprises an insulatingpanel or slab 1, main stationary contact members 2 and 3, a cooperatingmovable contact member 4, a supporting arm 5 for said contact member 4,a stationary arcing terminal 6, a cooperatlng movable arcing terminal 7,a supporting arm 8 for said movable terminal 7, an operating mechanism9, a latch 10, and a releasing mechanism 11.

he main stationary contact member 2 comprises a contact block 14 and anauxiliary contact plate 15, said contact block constituting the head ofa stud 16 that pro- Jects through an opening in the insulating panel 1and is secured thereto by a nut 17. v

The stud 16 serves as one of the terminals of the device. The stationarycontact mem ber 3 comprises a contact block 18 which forms an integralpart of a stud 19 that projects through the insulating panel 1 to theother terminal of the device.

The movable contact member 4, which comprises a plurality of strips ofconductare held in position between clamping plates 20 and 21, isadapted to cooperate with, and bridge across, the main stationarycontact members 2 and 3. An auxiliary conducting member 22 isresiliently associated with the main bridging contact member 4 and isadapted to cooperate with the auxiliary contact plate 15 and the contactmember 3.- The outer clamping plate 21 constitutes the supporting arm 5for the movable contact member 4, and its lower end is vpivotallysupported upon a pin 23 that projects between bracket members 24 whichare suitably secured to the insulating panel 1.

The arcing terminals 6 and 7 comprise carbon tips 25 and metal plates26. The carbon tip 25 of the stationary terminal 6 is securely fastenedWithin a retaining member 27 which is pivotally mounted upon'a pin 28between upwardly projecting. arms 29 of a U-shaped supporting member 30,the latter being suitably attached to the contact member 2. The contactplate 26 constitutes the lower portion of the stationary arcing terminal6 and is secured to the retaining member 27 by screws 31. A spring 32 isprovided and rests against the back of the retaining member 27 in suchmanner as to maintain the arcing terminal 6 in engagement with itscooperating movable arcing terminal 7. Furthermore, a flexible shunt 32is employed to electrically connect the arcing terminal 6 and the mamcontact member 2.

The movable arcing terminal 7 is similar to the one hereinbeforedescribed and is rigidly mounted at the upper end of the supporting arm8 which comprises substantially parallel side members 33, the upper endsof which are united to receive the terminal 7 and the lower ends thereofare connected by means of a cross piece 34. The lower ends of the sidemembers 33 are pivotally mounted upon the pin 23, which. also serves asa pivotal support for the supporting arm 5, the latter arm beingdisposed 1ntermediate the side members 3 3 of the supporting arm 8.

The operating mechanism 9 comprises an operating lever 39 thatispivotally mounted upon a pin 40 between bracket members 24, aplurality of links 41 and 42, and a plurality of intermediate members orlinks 43. The operating lever 39 comprises a handle 44 and upwardlyprojecting side arms 45 which carry a pin 46, to which the lower end ofthe link 42 is pivotally connected. The upper end of link 42 is pinnedto the supporting arm 5 in a suitable manner and said link 42 iscentrally disposed with respect to the operating lever .39 and thesupporting arm 5. The operating lever 39 is also provided withdownwardly projecting arms 47 that are connected by a cross piece 48 tobe engaged by the latch 10. The intermediate members or links 43 areloosely mounted upon the shaft 40 adjacent to the respective bracketmembers 24 and are of like construction, each embodying a curved slot oropening 49 through which the pin 46 projects and is permitted to travel,and an outwardly projecting lug 50 to engage one of the links 41 whenthe interrupter is closed, for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth.The outer end of each intermediate member 43 is connected to the lowerend of one of the links 41' by a pin 51, while the upper end of eachlink 41 is pivotally associated with the supporting arm 8 in a wellknown manner.

The operating lever 39 and the link 42 constitute an operating togglefor actuating the supporting arm 5, while the operating lever 39, theintermediate members 43, and the links 41 constitute an operating togglefor the supporting arm 8,- -said toggle occupymg an approximately deadcenter position when the interrupter is closed. The relative proportionsof the component parts of the operating mechanism are, however, sochosen that, when the interrupter is closed, the operating toggle forthe supporting arm 8 is overset slightly beyond its true dead centerposition, and tends, therefore, to collapse outwardly, while theoperating toggle for the supporting arm 5 is slightly underset and,therefore, tends to buckle inwardly. The collapse of the toggleassociated with the supporting arm 8, is, however, prevented by reasonof the engagement of the lugs 50, forming parts of the intermediatemembers 43, with the links 41, as will be readily un derstood, while theengagement of the latch 10 with the cross piece 48 of the operatinglever 39 restrains the operating toggle of the supporting arm 5 in itsclosed position.

The latch 10 is pivotally mounted upon a pin 52 between projectingmembers 53 which form integral parts of the supporting arm 5 and saidlatch comprises a catch 54 which is adapted to engage the cross piece48, as hereinbefore explained, and a downwardly projecting strikingmember 55. A spring 56 is suitably interposed between the projectingmembers and latch member 10 for the purpose of maintaining the catch '54in engagement with the cross piece 48.

The releasing mechanism 11 comprises a stationary magnetizable core 57,a movable cooperating armature 58 and a movable tripping member 59. Thestationary core 57 comprises a plurality of U-shaped punchings thatsurround the stud 19'and are suitably secured to the insulating panel 1.The movable armature 58 is fastened to one end of the tripping member 59which is pivotally mounted upon pins 60 between the-bracket members 24,and is provided with an adjustable trigger member 61 to engage thestriking member 55 of the latch 10 in the usual manner. A weight 62, acalibrated scale 63 and an adjusting knob :64 are also associated withthe tripping member 59 in order that the latch member 10 may bewithdrawn when any desired amount of current traverses the stud 19, saidstud constituting the single turn of an exciting winding for themagnetizable core 57 The operation of the interrupter is as follows:Assuming that the various parts 00- cupy the positions shown. in Figs. 1and 2, and that sufficient current traverses the interrupter to causethe movable armature 58 to be attracted to its stationary core 57, thetrigger member 61 delivers a blow to the latch 10, thereby withdrawingthe catch 54 from the cross piece 48. Thus, the operating togglecomprisingthe operating lever '39 and the link 42 is r'eleased and saidtoggle collapses inwardly by reason of the spring action of the mainlaminated contact mem-' her 4 and the weight of the component parts. Inso doing, the supporting arm 5 is moved outwardly, thereby allowing theseparation of the main movable contact member 4 from the cooperatingstationary contact members 2 and 3, and. also effecting thedisengagement of the auxiliary conducting member 22 and the contactplate 15 subsequent thereto. As the toggle referred to collapses, theoperating handle 44 moves upwardly, while the pin 46, associatedtherewith, is moved downwardly in a counter clockwise direction withinthe curved slot 49. During this operation, the cooperating arcingterminals 6 and 7 are maintained in engagement, inasmuch as theoperating toggle for the supporting arm 8 is restrained in its oversetposition by reason of the engagement of the projecting lugs 50 with thelinks 41. This cooperative engagement continues until the main movablecontact member 4 has been withdrawn from its cooperative contact members2 and 3 a predetermined distance, when the operating toggle of thesupporting arm 8 is released by reason of the sudden engagement of thepin 46 with the lower ends of the slots 49. The relative positions ofthe various parts of the operating mechanism, at this instant, are shownin Fig. 3. In this manner, the operating toggle of the supporting arm 8is brought inwardly across its dead center position, after which thetoggle collapses and the supporting arm 8 is moved outwardly to effectthe disen-' gagement of the cooperating arcing terminals 6 and 7, itbeing understood that the final interruption of the circuit takes placebetween the carbon tips 25 of the arcing terminals by reason of therocking movement that is imparted to the pivotally mounted arcingterminal 6 by the spring 32.

It should be understood that the proportions and locations of thevarious parts of the operating mechanism are so chosen that theseparation of the main cooperating members 2, 3 and 4, the auxiliaryconducting members 22 and 15, the cooperating conducting plates 26, andthe cooperating arcing tips 25, 'takes place in the order named. It willalso be understood that, by reason of the lost-motion connectionembodying the curved slot 49 and the pin 46 hereinbefore referred to,the movable contact member 4 is separated a predetermined distance fromits cooperating contact members 2' and 3 prior to the final interruptionof the circuit through the arcing terminals 6 and 7. Thus, apredetermined time element is introduced between the initial and finalinterruptions of the circuit. Moreover, by reason of the positiveconnection between the supporting arms 5 and 8, there is no possibilityof the various cooperating contact members opening in an improper order.

The relative positions of the various parts of the operating mechanismare shown in Fig. 4 in the full open position of the interrupter.

Assuming the interrupter to be open, and the parts of the operatingmechanism to cocupy the positions shown in Fig. 4, the closing operationis as follows: The handle 44 is forced downwardly, whereby, theoperating toggles hereinbefore mentioned, and the associated supportingarms 5 and 8, are forced into their closed positions. N 0 lostmotion isobtained in the closing operation, as the pin 46 engages the upper endof the curved slot 49 in the open position asshown in Fig. 4. In theclosing operation, the cooperating arcing terminals 6 and 7 are firstclosed, inasmuch as the pivoted terminal 6 is tilted forward by thespring 32, after which the engagement of the auxiliary contact members22and 15, and the main contact members 2, 3 and 4 is eflected. The movablearm 8 is restrained in its closed position by the projecting lugs 50,and the supporting arm 5 by the catch 54, in the manner hereinbeforeexplained.

Although I have shown and described my.

invention as embodying specific structural details and as illustrating asingle pole circuit interrupter, it will be understood that it is alsoapplicable to multipolar interrupters. Furthermore, such modificationsas may be effected in the arrangement and location of parts Withoutmaterially changing the operation or the results secured, are to beunderstood as included within thespirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a circuit interrupter, the combination with a plurality ofstationary contact members, a plurality of cooperating movable contactmembers, and separate supporting arms for said movable members, ofseparate operating toggles for said arms, a single operating handle forsaid toggles, means for releasing one of said toggles, and a lostmotionpin and slot connection between said toggles for permitting one ofsaidtoggles to remain set while the other is collapsing and forsubsequently releasing the same to allow of its colla se.

2. In a circuit interrupter, the combination with a plurality ofstationary contact members, a plurality of cooperatmg movable contactmembers, and separate supporting arms for said movable members, of anoperating handle, an operating toggle between said handle and one ofsaid arms, means for latching said toggle, a plurality of links forassociating said handle with the other arm, one of said links having aslot therein, a pin associated rigidly with said handle and projectinginto said slot for permitting the collapse of said links subsequent tothe release of said latching means.

3. In a circuit interrupter, the combination with a plurality ofstationary contact members, a plurality of cooperating movable contactmembers, separate supporting arms for said movable members, a. fulcrumshaft and an operating handle mounted thereon, of a link joining one ofsaid arms with said handleto form, an underset togof said handle andsaid arms and joining said fulcrum shaft with the second arm andembodying links severally pivoted on said shaft andhaving circular slotstherein concentric with said shaft, pins on said handle projecting intocooperative engagement with said slots, and means on said links foroversetting said toggles.

4:. In a circuit interrupter, the combination with a plurality ofcooperating movable and stationary contact, members, two supporting armsfor said movable contact I J. N. MAHONEY. Witnesses:

D. H. MAoE, B. B. HINns.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by-addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

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